Really good article

610kb per map? Someone invented compression for a reason...

re: 610kb per map mentioned in the linked blog - doesn't that assume no compression? Just tried saving a screen shot of a 640x960 google map - 150kb as a png in 8bits. Compression for photos would be that much better.

Cut the string at a predetermined point

Could you have the string to the ballon cut at a predetermined point (either timed, or by pressure - bladder expands an closes a pair of scissors or something!)? Then have a 5 second delay for the ballon to shoot off by itself, and then launch?

Obviously you'd need to shape / weight the payload so that it fell in a stable way? How about an inverted cone of card with a weight in the end?

49 quid > 50 euros

Get a clone

I've got a clone, it does a better job than the real thing. They're quite popular with mtbing folk, and it's always amusing to compare the footage I've got for 12 quid to the one that someone payed 80 quid for.... esp the older ones of the model reviewed, that actually only do 20fps...

They work well in good light (e.g. strapped to a snowboard boot), and badly in low light.

Distance Selling

Ouch

That's a pretty harsh study - presumably they were in effect lying to one half (or at least being economical with the truth)... surprised it got past an ethics panel in the way it's been presented here.

@Jason Togneri

I could be wrong, but I'd have thought that a hard vacum is a pretty useless coolant - you have to rely purely on radation rather than convection or conduction. Isn't that why space craft have such massive cooling problems...